Traditional Non Dairy Smoked Salmon Pickle Dip Recipe Help Needed

[mtnlakeman]

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. My son returned home from Alaska for the Christmas holiday and he was kind enough to give us a bag full of salmon for our Christmas present. He teaches in a village of 209 people and all food other than sustenance is flown in. Because of the remoteness and expense there is very little dairy flown in. As a result he said his favorite way of eating salmon was this non dairy, smoked salmon, dill pickle dip. He's not too foody and didn't ask for a recipe so I was hoping someone on here knows something about this type of dip and has a recipe you'd be willing to share?

 

[chef jimmyj]

I need more details. Is it bound with anything like mayo or loose like a chunky salsa or Hawaiian Poke? Any idea what herbs or spices or if it has vinegar or soy sauce in it?...JJ

 

[marctrees]

Mtnlakeman used the word "Dip".

But, could he be talking more  about a Ceviche type thing? 

Or is the Salmon used in this dish hot smoked fully cooked? 

Marc

 

[mtnlakeman]

I haven't tried the dip so don't know anything about it other than what my son has relayed. We typically make a lot of cream cheese/salmon dip and he said it wasn't like that at all.

JJ in looking at google images he thinks it has a binder of some sort, but remember this is very remote Alaska where all ingredients would be flown in so typically most people make due with what's available. He guesses they probably didn't use mayo or eggs just because of the expense. Staples would be lard, berries, fish, caribou and moose. I asked multiple questions about salty, sweet, savory and he said maybe lemon and onion, but predominantly pickle. He's not too good with identifying anything ingredient wise other than it tasted good. He said it wasn't too sweet.

Marc, it's definitely not a ceviche, but he thought it could be either dried or hot smoked.

I thought I could try and make a concoction, but was hoping someone had an idea of what he was talking about as dill pickle and smoked salmon just don't sound like they'd make that good of a flavor?

 

[dirtsailor2003]

Dill pairs well with salmon. Dill is added to quite a few smoked salmon dip recipes.

The only non-dairy based salmon spread/dip recipe that I have uses homemade mayo as the binder. I got the recipe from an old timer whose family settled the Central Oregon Coast area around Lincoln City.

It has dill pickles, lemon, garlic, salmon and uses homemade mayo as the binder.  I add capers and usually add dill weed too. You can eliminate or add to it depending on the ingredients you have on hand. I don't have accurate measurements as it depends on the amount of fish you have. It's one of those add and taste until you get what you want recipes.

 

[dirtsailor2003]

Thumbing through some more recipes how about this one (not sure where it came from as its hand written in a old cookbook from a relative.)

8 ounce piece of smoked salmon

5 tablespoons  softened butter

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoons chopped chives

1-2 tablespoons dill

can add ¼  teaspoon chili powder or smoke paprika or ground white pepper

Blend butter and oil till smooth add crumbled salmon and spices mix well.

I would assume that one could use schmaltz, of other rendered fat in place of the butter and oil. Which would make it dairy free.

 

[mtnlakeman]

Thanks dirtsailor. I'm going to give that a try. I think you're right they would have used whatever rendered fat they had, and probably berry juice for the acid in the traditional version. As mentioned my son mentioned the dill pickles in it which wouldn't be traditional, but my guess is your recipe is a good start on the base. I'll let you know what he thinks.

 

[dirtsailor2003]

 
Thanks dirtsailor. I'm going to give that a try. I think you're right they would have used whatever rendered fat they had, and probably berry juice for the acid in the traditional version. As mentioned my son mentioned the dill pickles in it which wouldn't be traditional, but my guess is your recipe is a good start on the base. I'll let you know what he thinks.

Let us know how it goes. I haven't made the second recipe but I have made the first one many times (not always with homemade mayo though).

The dill pickles will also have a bit of acidity from the vinegar. I suppose one could add a bit of the pickle juice too if you want.

 

[mtnlakeman]

So I made up dirtsailors 2nd recipe, but added 1/2 cup of chopped dill pickle as that's what my son could pick out as a main ingredient. I will say I had some big doubts about the smoke, butter and pickles combo, but was pleasantly surprised about how well everything blended together. I can't say it was the best dip I've ever had, but I ate about half of it and kept saying "that's pretty good". We finished it off in about 10 minutes so I'm going to bring it as an appetizer while watching Washington crush Alabama.

A couple variations I'll be making to tomorrows batch.

About 1/2 way through I added some Tobasco and capers which didn't help like I thought they would so I'm not repeating that.

I'm going to cut the butter in half as it was too much binder compared to the original, and I'm going to replace the chives with green onion as my son believed the chives didn't provide enough onion flavor.

So all in all I'd say it's definitely worth trying if you have a bunch of smoked fish you're looking to do something with.

 

[marctrees]

Just an idea re hot sauce - Franks is definately OK, but by FAR the best I have used for years is "Valentina" regular sold in the Mexican section, ridiculously inexpensive, but the point is - WAY more pepper flavor w/o extra heat.

SOOOO good on anything.     Marc

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Valentina-Mexican-Hot-Sauce-Salsa-Picante-34-fl-oz/10422054